


A Steady Purr

by Morgana



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2009-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-05 17:30:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana/pseuds/Morgana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vampires do purr, but only when they're extraordinarily contented</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Angelus lay sprawled amid the scattered rose petals, his body gleaming with sticky traces of blackberry wine. Will propped his head on one hand and watched him, fascinated by the careless grace that was contained within that long-limbed body. He was still more than a little in awe of his sire, and an evening alone was a prize beyond measure. He knew the women giggled over his obvious hero worship, but lying limp and sated in Angelus' bed, he didn't care. 

Something had changed last night, but he wasn't sure exactly what. There had been a gentleness to Angelus' voice, a warmth in his eyes, a tenderness in the large hands that caressed him that left him shaking with a need stronger than he'd known before. Angelus had played with him, teased and wooed him like he would a woman, plying him with blackberry wine until his head was dizzy from it. Will blushed to recall how he'd been stroked all over with roses until he writhed with pleasure and begged for Angelus. The petals had fallen to the bed and been crushed beneath them when at last he was answered, their scent perfuming the air while they... what? Fucked? Rutted? Made love? 

The last struck home, but he was almost afraid to hope for it. He'd already been granted so much more than he ever thought to have... surely wanting more would be greedy. But even as he thought it, he remembered Angelus stretched out beneath him, first laughing and then moaning when Will spilled the last vestiges of the wine over golden skin and licked him clean. For one brief, shining night his sire had given of himself, lay down for his childe and let him draw the symphony of bliss from his throat. That was enough for anyone, wasn't it? 

Oh, it wasn't like he thought Angelus was going to abandon him just because they'd shared one tender night. There would be many more times when the blood boiled in them and they fell to hands and knees in the alleys, endless nights where Angelus would rip at his skin with teeth and claws before falling upon him like a wild beast, years to come when his sire's hands and cock would make him bay his release to the moon above. Yet still he couldn't help but wish there would be a few more nights like this. 

The first stirrings of the day drifted in from the street outside- the clatter of wheels on the street, the shrill laughter and chatter of the shopgirls on their way to work mingling with the calls and bells of the vendors, all of it mingling in the inevitable chorus of light. Will stretched his hand out, tracing his initials lightly over Angelus' heart, then began to slip from the bed when a sleepy voice called him back. "Where do you think you're going, then?" 

"It's almost light out." 

"And that matters not to me. C'mere, stay a little longer." Angelus reached out, wrapping a hand around one slender arm, pulling his childe back down to the soft feather mattress. 

Will wriggled, earning a soft groan from the man beside him. "But the day- if I fall asleep..." 

"Would that be such a terrible thing?" The soft whisper stirred his hair, several of his damned curls tickling his ears. Hands turned him around and one heavy leg settled over his, pinning him in place. 

Will looked up. "No, not terrible at all." He snuggled closer, wrapping himself about the larger frame like a wisteria vine. burying his face in Angelus' neck, breathing deep. There was something about Angelus' scent that managed to alternately calm and rouse some of the desperate wildness that seemed to claw at him from the inside sometimes. After last night, it soothed him, lulling him into a soft contentment. Large hands stroked over his side and stomach, petting him and pulling him close. Will felt his chest tighten, drawing in air that was released with a low rumbling-

"Are you... purring?" Angelus rose up on one elbow, peering down at his childe. 

"No!" The instinctive denial was almost drowned out by the sound. Will put a hand up to his chest, the action mirrored by Angelus, and both could feel the vibration that seemed to be coming from inside him. 

The sight of wide blue eyes drew a burst of delighted laughter from Angelus. "You are!" He stroked his hand over soft skin, leaning down to nuzzle at his boy's neck. The purring had begun to taper off and he whispered, "Don't stop, Will."

"How can I stop? I don't even know how I'm doing it!"

"Darla said it happens when we're perfectly content and at peace. Never heard her or anyone else do it, though." Teeth scored lightly over his throat before Angelus raised his head and smiled. "It's nice."

Perfectly content and at peace. Will considered those words for a moment before deciding that they were exactly right. He smiled up at his sire in return, then snuggled closer. "Yeah, it is." The pair kissed a little more, then curled up together, drifting off to sleep accompanied by the steady purr of Will's happiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Blood slid over once-golden skin in gleaming rivulets, droplets falling down to the scattered rose petals under the cooling corpse. Any other night, it would've been a mouth-watering sight, but just now Spike couldn't stand to look at any of it. He yanked his pants on and fastened his belt, then grabbed the cigarettes from the nightstand on his way out of the room. There weren't enough smokes to make this travesty better, and the only alcohol he could think about right now would never help him forget, no matter how much of it he downed.

Dammit, why wouldn't the memories leave him alone? He took a deep draw on his cigarette, then exhaled and watched the long plume of smoke spiral upwards, trying to find some semblance of calm in its lazy, twisting journey. It didn't work, of course, and he was left right back where he'd started, thinking about that one night. Just one night, one goddamned night out of thousands he'd spent with his sire, but that one night haunted him until he thought he'd go mad. The low rumble of his purr still stalked his dreas, leaving him aching somewhere deep inside when he woke up to the silence of his empty bed. He'd crawled into Dru's bed on more than one of those lonely afternoons, curling up around her and hoping that maybe, one day, he'd figure out how to make her purr as well.

“Did my prince enjoy his present?”

He hadn't, not really. But she was trying to help, so he stubbed out his smoke and summoned a smile before he turned around. “Couldn't have asked for a better one, luv.”

“You lie, my Spike. Your hunger is for a different kind of wine,” Dru chided him softly. “But Daddy's gone and only good doggies get to play with the pretty flowers now.”

“That's me... a good lil puppy,” he muttered softly. Trust Dru to put her finger right on it, and in the most humiliating way possible. But he certainly was her faithful dog, wasn't he? Had been ever since Angelus walked out and left them both to starve without so much as a backward glance.

“No, you aren't!” Dru suddenly vamped and hissed as she lashed out, her nails raking across his cheek. “You don't want Mummy's gift, not really. You want it sticky and sweet, with all sorts of pretty words that aren't ever for me!”

Fuck, that hurt! Spike gingerly touched his cheek, shaking his head slowly. He had to calm her down before she started screeching, had to keep her somewhat grounded or she'd end up spending the next three days in one of her spells. “Dru, it's not like that. You know I like your presents- didn't you see what I did with her, how much I enjoyed her?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the door to his room, then smiled as she looked back at him. “She was so sweet... did her blood taste like honey? The stars said it would.”

Relieved at the way her anger had vanished as rapidly as it had appeared, Spike quickly answered, “The sweetest, pet. Made all sorts of pretty whimpers, screamed a right treat, too.” He took hold of her hand and raised it to his lips, brushing a gentle kiss over the palm and frowning at the singed fingertips that caught his eye. Flicking his cigarette away, he cradled her injured hand in his and stroked her fingers. "Playing with the oils again, luv?"

"Miss Edith was ill," she murmured. "And there was no priest, not after Daddy ate him. But I couldn't remember all the words. They crawl around and scratch my throat all up."

Spike sighed. Drusilla had been administering last rites to her dolls almost as long as he'd known her, and nothing could make her stop, not Angelus' threats or Darla's sharp rejoinders or his own careful pleas. It was as though she were trying to complete the sacrament she'd never had, to give her precious Miss Edith the peace that Angelus had denied her. "Dru, pet, remember what I said about the oils?"

"They burn so beautifully," she purred, dark eyes shining like the stars she saw everywhere. "Such a lovely bonfire, my Spike. Like stars that sparkle and dance all over my fingertips."

He cupped her cheek, thumb stroking her skin. “I know, precious. But that's not the right kind of hurt, yeah?”

She didn't answer, her gaze drifting off over his shoulder to some far-off land that he couldn't follow, so he bent to give her a kiss on the cheek, silently promising himself that he'd replace the holy oils with harmless ones later. And when he figured out which minions kept getting the rosaries and such that she wanted, he'd string them up right proper, too. But that would have to wait- right now there was a girl to dispose of before sunrise.

Spike opened his mouth to explain where he was going, but a finger pressed against his lips to silence him. Dark eyes burned into his as her attention snapped back to him and then he was falling into blackness, plummeting down through a cold fire that snaked around him. His tongue seemed to swell in his mouth, words thick as he muttered, “The girl...”

“Let the others take care of her,” Drusilla crooned. “See me. Be in me.”

He stood motionless, staring into her eyes until suddenly he pulled himself back and shook his head. “Need to have Ryan see to the girl before she starts messin' the place up. Did you eat yet tonight, sweetheart? Have to keep your strength up, after all.”

“Tonight, before I brought your present home. He tasted like king cakes and cream,” she mused softly. “The stars told me yours would be blackberry wine... were they right?”

Spike snorted. “Tasted good enough- blood's blood, ain't it? Besides, you know there's only one kind of wine I want, pet. C'mere an' lemme have a taste, yeah?” He swept her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom, smiling at the way the mad tones of her laughter lingered in the sultry tropical air.


End file.
